The X-Files episode is a dark parody of Forrest Gump and it’s excellent
From Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Over the course of its original run The X-Files challenged an unsuspecting public to believe in aliens, government conspiracies, and other monsters that prowl in the night. However, behind this lies the mysterious Cigarette Smoking Man, who emerged from the background of the first season into the series’ main villain. According to the fourth season episode, “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man”, he is also a perverted Forrest Gump who influences world events not through naive optimism, but through his own ideas about the safety of the world.
The Secret History of the Cigarette Smoker
“Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” gave fans the best insight into the mysterious history of the shady mastermind, skillfully played by William B. Davis, with Chris Owens appearing in the episode as a younger version of the key man behind the conspiracy. During a meeting with Mulder and Scully, The Lone Gunman’s Melvin Frohike reveals that he has discovered the true story of the cigarette smoker, who incidentally listens in on the meeting from behind a sniper rifle. In a long series of flashbacks, we see the real story unfold, or at least the show leads us to believe it is the real story.
In 1962 we learn that the cigarette smoker is friends with Mulder’s father Bill and that he was commissioned by the US Army to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” gives us the origins of his smoking habit, based on the gift he received from Lee Harvey Oswald after he framed him for murder. This is just the first time that the story of The X-Files has been shaped by his influence, and his worst deeds were yet to come.
From planning the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. to staging the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” to preventing the Bills from winning the Super Bowl, “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” has fun reimagining world history interpret. Yet it also makes him one of the most callous and obviously evil characters ever Science fiction The story turns out to be strangely sympathetic.
A frustrated novelist
As he shapes world events, “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” shows him working on a novel, Take a Chance: A Jack Colquitt Adventureand in the present day of 1996, he is willing to give up his job and smoking to celebrate the publication of his science fiction novel. Until he finds out that the editor has betrayed him, and while sitting on a park bench he gives his own speech about how “life is like a box of chocolates” before resuming his villainous life. It’s a rare moment The X-Files original run that humanizes him, but it might not even be true.
In the closing moments of “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man,” Frohike admits that he made it all up, but the Cigarette Smoking Man ends the episode by quoting the last line of his novel: “I can kill you whenever I want.” .”, but not today.” This has left fans wondering how much of the episode is fictional and how much is the true secret story of it The X-Files most mysterious character.
One of the best episodes of The X-Files
At the time of the episode’s airing, the lack of a clear resolution divided critics and fans, but over time, “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” became a fan favorite. It is written by Glen Morgan and directed by James Wong, the exemplary pairing behind most of the series’ best episodes and also behind the underrated sci-fi series Space: Above and BeyondIn fact, this was one of the first episodes they wrote after their other show was canceled. While they never intended to say that this was the definitive story of the Cigarette Smoking Man, many fans thought it was and overlooked the fun the episode had by re-imagining world events.
“Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” may not answer any questions, including the most pressing question, which is when did he buy the adorable log cabin from “The Red and the Black?” The dispute over the best episode of The X-Files may be never-ending and controversial decisions made in the revival series have ruined some of the original series, but the secret story of the Cigarette Smoking Man has only gotten better with time.
